Needing Help With Silkie Genetics!

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Your hen can't carry a bearded gene. My best guess is that the beards will get smaller as they get older, and be around the size of the father's.

Possibly, I'll post back here as they grow and feather out.

If their beards get smaller it'll make sense, if they stay big I'll be totally confused

I do have a fully bearded pullet which I'll breed with him but I'm still waiting for eggs from her.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Just got a new Silkie in my flock...

Say hello to Carrot!

'She' is roughly around 9-10 weeks old and is a bearded gold.

Fingers crossed to her staying a female

I'll be so disappointed if I have to say goodbye to my little Carrot

Although I can't complain, she only cost me £1:50...

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I'm back posting here again!

So, after hatching eggs from my flock, I believe my white Cockerel is recessive white.

The partridge x whites came out partridge so he mustn't be dominant white. So the partridge chicks will all hold the recessive white gene.

Say for example, I end up with a really nice quality partridge x white chick and want to breed it back to the white father. Will the chicks be pure white since they both have the recessive white gene?

Also, what could I potentially hatch from my blue crossed with my recessive white male? And what could I expect from my gold/buff (posted in the last comment here) crossed with my recessive white male?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I'm back posting here again!

So, after hatching eggs from my flock, I believe my white Cockerel is recessive white.

The partridge x whites came out partridge so he mustn't be dominant white. So the partridge chicks will all hold the recessive white gene.

Say for example, I end up with a really nice quality partridge x white chick and want to breed it back to the white father. Will the chicks be pure white since they both have the recessive white gene?

Also, what could I potentially hatch from my blue crossed with my recessive white male? And what could I expect from my gold/buff (posted in the last comment here) crossed with my recessive white male?

If you bred partridge x white to white you would get 50% whites. They would be all white with no leakage. Assuming your rooster is partridge under his white, him x a blue would give you 50% blues/50% blacks with red leakage. Him x a buff/gold would give you leaky, slightly darker buff.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

If you bred partridge x white to white you would get 50% whites. They would be all white with no leakage. Assuming your rooster is partridge under his white, him x a blue would give you 50% blues/50% blacks with red leakage. Him x a buff/gold would give you leaky, slightly darker buff.

Ah right, so it'd be 50% white and 50% partridge (that hold one white recessive gene)?

The blues and golds crossed with white seem pretty interesting though! Would the leaky colour on the buff from the gold/buff x white be? There is still a chance my little gold/buff is in fact a male so if so this pairing will never happen...I'm hoping she is female though!

As for my partridge x white chicks, here are the most recent ones. The white came from a white x white so he's the little odd one out of them.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Ah right, so it'd be 50% white and 50% partridge (that hold one white recessive gene)?

The blues and golds crossed with white seem pretty interesting though! Would the leaky colour on the buff from the gold/buff x white be? There is still a chance my little gold/buff is in fact a male so if so this pairing will never happen...I'm hoping she is female though!

As for my partridge x white chicks, here are the most recent ones. The white came from a white x white so he's the little odd one out of them.
View attachment 1878793

Yes, they will carry recessive white.
Silkie color crosses usually are interesting.
Partridge leakage. In roosters, red in the neck and saddle, black in the chest and tail. In hens, penciling.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Yes, they will carry recessive white.
Silkie color crosses usually are interesting.
Partridge leakage. In roosters, red in the neck and saddle, black in the chest and tail. In hens, penciling.

Oh they sound interesting!

I may keep one of the either blue x white chicks or buff x white Chicks depending on how whacky their leakage turns out. The leakage you mentioned sounds nice!

The blue and buff are yet to lay so there will be a few months until I see any of their young.

Thankyou for helping!

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I think it was this thread I posted on about how some of my chicks had big beards.

We came to the conclusion that my rooster has a small beard but my hen is non bearded so the chicks got their beard from their father.

However, one of the chicks I've decided to keep has a huge beard compared to its father.

I thought it would have been the same size as its fathers or smaller, not bigger...

When the beard got to this size, I expected it to stay this size:

But it continues to fluff out and get bigger:

I have a feeling that this chick is a male but gosh will he be a very pretty one!

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I think it was this thread I posted on about how some of my chicks had big beards.

We came to the conclusion that my rooster has a small beard but my hen is non bearded so the chicks got their beard from their father.

However, one of the chicks I've decided to keep has a huge beard compared to its father.

I thought it would have been the same size as its fathers or smaller, not bigger...

When the beard got to this size, I expected it to stay this size:
View attachment 1913608

But it continues to fluff out and get bigger:
View attachment 1913609
View attachment 1913610
View attachment 1913611
View attachment 1913611
View attachment 1913613
View attachment 1913616

I have a feeling that this chick is a male but gosh will he be a very pretty one!

Weird. Are you sure about the parentage?

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Weird. Are you sure about the parentage?

100% certain!

I only have one rooster and at the time, I only had two laying hens. My white which laid cream eggs and my gold which laid light brown eggs